What does it all mean?!?

[CheeseNTots]

As a disclaimer, I feel a little like a fraud for wondering if this is the answer. Maybe I'm just complaining too much or it's just in my head. I would be enormously grateful for wisdom.

I have been lactose intolerant since I was very small, around 5. We didn't figure it out for a while but in the meantime, I instinctively hated dairy products generally even though I had no idea what the problem was. I thought I was dying and if I didn't mention it to anyone, it would just go away. Silly me. 

In more recent years (the last 10-12), I've been experiencing a return to the unpredictable, constant GI issues. This past year, I did a food journal because I realized it's not normal to hurt after every meal and I managed to track the symptoms down to eggs and soy. But then symptoms carried on and the only allergen type item I could find in all of the meals was gluten. It's gotten worse to the point where every few weeks I've been waking up because of stomach pain that feels like a brick under my ribs. Sometimes I throw up food that I ate 12+ hours earlier and it hasn't been digested. This past time I had the brick feeling and woke up in pain. I couldn't throw up and it was so uncomfortable I couldn't fall asleep until 4 am. Pepto didn't help at all. It's been 2 days since and the pain is still there (it's been constant) but faded. I am almost always constipated or having diarrhea. I am also struggling with depression and I've had some bizarre vitamin deficiencies over the last few years including anemia and vitamin D, despite having a good diet. I've also had menstrual irregularities over the last couple of years. This is nothing too crazy but it used to be very consistent and now it's all over the place. I also have issues with my teeth. I brush and use mouthwash but the enamel on my teeth looks weird and embarrassing. 

That being said, I don't have any family members with celiac, that I know of. I don't have any other diagnoses that are typically associated with higher risk of celiac. I have cut out gluten for an extended time just to see what happens and it's the most comfortable I've ever been in my life. I guess my concern is that it's a placebo effect where I'm just inventing some convenient answer. 

Thanks for reading and thanks again for any wisdom. 

 

[cyclinglady]

Sure, you could have celiac disease.  I was the first diagnosed in my family.  Anemia was my main symptom.  The only way to know for sure is to get tested.   The catch?  You have to be consuming gluten daily for at least 6 to 12 weeks and it sounds like you are gluten free now.  

Consider staying the gluten-free course and get tested later after this pandemic is under control or consider a home test if available in your area, or call your doctor and ask to be tested and plan on doing a gluten challenge.  

Learn all you can about celiac  disease and how to avoid gluten.  

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by cyclinglady

[CheeseNTots]

22 hours ago, cyclinglady said:

Sure, you could have celiac disease.  I was the first diagnosed in my family.  Anemia was my main symptom.  The only way to know for sure is to get tested.   The catch?  You have to be consuming gluten daily for at least 6 to 12 weeks and it sounds like you are gluten free now.  

Consider staying the gluten-free course and get tested later after this pandemic is under control or consider a home test if available in your area, or call your doctor and ask to be tested and plan on doing a gluten challenge.  

Learn all you can about celiac  disease and how to avoid gluten.  

 

I appreciate your input! I just feel like I've gone a little bit insane. No one else in my family has any of this going on so I always feel a little like a weirdo. My dad, I think, had some food intolerances that were never official but he died way back from a non-health related incident. It's hard to know for sure. You make good points on how to handle this with coronavirus--that's probably not helping matters. I feel like even if I wanted to go get tested I can't so then it feels even more frustrating.